So my ACIS solenoid died, and the intake manifold had to come off... So I figured, why not buy the plastic 2UZ intake from badblackgs and see what happens when I install it? From his experiments with it, he noticed a decent increase in torque. Plus the plastic keeps the air temperature down and is way lighter to lift off the engine when doing the starter. He sold it to me with a full set of fresh injectors, which was (initially) more cost-effective than having my injectors cleaned and balanced. The injectors from the 2UZ up to 2002 are plug and play in the GS400 harness and fit the 05+ intake manifold perfectly.
In order to keep the surgery minimally invasive, I tried my hand at making an adaptor to bolt the throttle body on to the intake using some eBay aluminum plates and some bolts from Ace Hardware. The cost started climbing from there, since I needed a 3-inch hole saw to cut the throttle body bore, and the metric bolts were pricey.
The adaptor worked though, so I test fitted everything. I planned on just using the 2UZ fuel rail, but the GS400 fuel line has the part that goes across the manifold integrated into the feed line. So I had to use the driver's side rail from the 2UZ, plug the hole at the other end, and use the passenger side rail from the GS400.
At this point, the two mistakes I made were not putting new upper seals on the fuel injectors and stretching the smaller of the two coolant lines to the TB because the whole TB was moved forward. The injectors leaked gas everywhere the next morning when I tried to go to work, and the coolant line popped later that night after I replaced the injector seals. #rookiemistakes
At this point though, everything is fine. The manifold bolted right to the engine, the vacuum lines all hooked up, and I was able to adapt the bracket for the throttle cable, even though the 2UZ manifold doesn't have a place to mount a throttle cable because the 03 and up are all 100% drive by wire. I relocated the vacuum canister and solenoid for the ACIS so I could access them without removing the manifold. Also installed a new solenoid, and the ACIS is working properly.
How does it drive? It definitely pulls harder through the mid RPMs, and the top end feels like it breathes easier. This car really moves.
I haven't had much time to really get familiar with it, but so far I'm thinking it's not a big enough gain to justify the pain of the install. Fabbing the adaptor took a lot of time, and as always when taking stuff apart there's the risk of breaking other stuff. At the very least, I know all those parts are fresh and working properly now.
I made a video of the process:
In order to keep the surgery minimally invasive, I tried my hand at making an adaptor to bolt the throttle body on to the intake using some eBay aluminum plates and some bolts from Ace Hardware. The cost started climbing from there, since I needed a 3-inch hole saw to cut the throttle body bore, and the metric bolts were pricey.
The adaptor worked though, so I test fitted everything. I planned on just using the 2UZ fuel rail, but the GS400 fuel line has the part that goes across the manifold integrated into the feed line. So I had to use the driver's side rail from the 2UZ, plug the hole at the other end, and use the passenger side rail from the GS400.
At this point, the two mistakes I made were not putting new upper seals on the fuel injectors and stretching the smaller of the two coolant lines to the TB because the whole TB was moved forward. The injectors leaked gas everywhere the next morning when I tried to go to work, and the coolant line popped later that night after I replaced the injector seals. #rookiemistakes
At this point though, everything is fine. The manifold bolted right to the engine, the vacuum lines all hooked up, and I was able to adapt the bracket for the throttle cable, even though the 2UZ manifold doesn't have a place to mount a throttle cable because the 03 and up are all 100% drive by wire. I relocated the vacuum canister and solenoid for the ACIS so I could access them without removing the manifold. Also installed a new solenoid, and the ACIS is working properly.
How does it drive? It definitely pulls harder through the mid RPMs, and the top end feels like it breathes easier. This car really moves.
I haven't had much time to really get familiar with it, but so far I'm thinking it's not a big enough gain to justify the pain of the install. Fabbing the adaptor took a lot of time, and as always when taking stuff apart there's the risk of breaking other stuff. At the very least, I know all those parts are fresh and working properly now.
I made a video of the process: